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In our latest episode, our host, Kimberley Furness from OAK Magazine, delves into the inspiring journey of entrepreneurship with Luz Restrepo founder of Made by Many Minds. Originally from Colombia, Luz's story is one of resilience and innovation. After studying medicine, she discovered her passion for business and communication. Luz arrived in Australia at age 45 and her experience led her to found SisterWorks, a charity supporting migrant women, and later co-founded Migrant Women in Business Pty Ltd, empowering migrant women entrepreneurs nationwide.Join us as Luz shares her challenges as a migrant woman in a foreign country: limited resources, a strong accent, but abundant knowledge and determination. Luz talks about the difficulty of finding a job with little to no English but feeling privileged with her professional background, she took the decision to create a job for herself and all the migrant women in the same situation. This was the beginning of Sisterworks, an obsessive woman looking for commercial, employment, and training opportunities. In 2021, Luz resigned from Sisterworks which at this point needed a manager and not an entrepreneur like her anymore.Not wanting to depend on grants to pay bills anymore, Luz decided that her next venture would be a company and she created Migrant Women in Business within a month to support migrant women who have a product or service to sell, providing an easy-to-use Marketplace and connecting them to wholesale buyers. Luz makes it clear that the consumers' behaviour needs to change, they need to understand where the products come from and who is making it.Luz discovered that most registered ABN in Australia and regional and rural areas are micro businesses with up to three employees and they are facing the same challenges as the migrant community including poor technology literacy. Luz saw the opportunity to help more all businesses migrant or not and turned her focus on regional Australia, with her venture Made by Many Minds Pty Ltd supporting micro-business development and creating connections.Luz's proudest achievement is the capacity to create work, establishing a different model for migrant women to learn by doing. Her journey embodies resilience, compassion, and entrepreneurial spirit.ABOUT OUR SPONSOR MCKERN STEELThis series is proudly sponsored by McKern Steel. McKern Steel is a leading supplier of high-quality structural steel for residential projects across Victoria. Located across three venues in Bendigo, they are dedicated to keeping their business regionally based. McKern Steel are also an active player in the community through the McKern Foundation, which is focused on contributing to community projects that benefit the health and wellbeing of youth. ABOUT OUR HOST KIMBERLEY FURNESSKimberley Furness is the national award winning publisher of OAK Magazine, a proudly independent media publisher dedicated to sharing stories and amplifying voices of female change makers and women in business in regional and rural Australia. Kimberley is a long time content creator for print and digital, a social media trainer for rural business owners and the host of chart topping podcasts A...
SisterWorks is a not-for-profit organisation that supports migrant, refugee, and asylum-seeker women who want to upskill and be financially literate. - Ang SisterWorks ay isang not-for-profit organisation na sinusuportahan ang mga migrante at refugee na mga kababaihan na nais palaguin ang kanilang talento at maging mas maalam sa pera.
Food expert Michael Harden gives a crash course in dinner party etiquette; Ifrin Fittock, CEO of SisterWorks, talks about the Spectuacular Cultural Festival; Nat has added to her lamp collection; Book lover Fi Wright reviews Lynne Olson's Empress of the Nile; the team discuss different interactions with celebrities in their dreams; Tech enthusiast Vanessa Toholka describes how Suzanne Vega influenced the MP3 file format; and author Chris Womersley chats about his new book Ordinary Gods and Monsters. With presenters Monique Sebire, Daniel Burt & Nat Harris. Website: https://www.rrr.org.au/explore/programs/breakfasters/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Breakfasters3RRRFM/Twitter: https://twitter.com/breakfasters
For migrant and refugee woman, finding secure, meaningful, well-paid work in their new homes can be challenging. Victorian social enterprise SisterWorks supports these women by providing skills training and employment opportunities. Now, SisterWorks is celebrating its tenth birthday, by opening a new cafe and shop, to further support those who want to follow their passion.
Chị Đoàn Mỹ Tiên, một thiện nguyện viên tại SisterWorks chia sẻ với SBS Vietnamese về những chương trình của SisterWorks, bao gồm các khóa đào tạo kỹ năng, dạy tiếng Anh và làm các đồ thủ công để kiếm thêm thu nhập.
For those of you who joined me earlier this year for the launch of UNBiased as a brand new podcast, I'm back after a Covid-19 Delta variant-induced hiatus. Here in Australia, we were forced to move swiftly from trying to keep Covid-19 off our shores, to vaccinating and living with it like the rest of the world. As a result we were thrown back into lockdown - my first one having to home school a 5 year old, whilst juggling full time work, setting up a new business, and generally riding out the ups and downs that came with closed international borders when all our family support is based in the UK. But I'm back! I'm double vaxxed. Kids are back in school and daycare. And international borders are starting to re-open. I'm excited to introduce you to some great guests, and take our conversations into new territories. Kicking off with Prerana Mehta: CEO, Board Director; Mum of 3. The sheer breadth of Prerana's career and the amount that she has given back to her community through her work with notable NGO's SisterWorks and BraveHER; and to Australia's cyber-security efforts both here and overseas through her work with AustCyber, is breathtaking. In this episode Prerana shares her story behind her immense CV and gives us a glimpse into biases that she's overcome, and why we should be hopeful for all that can be achieved with the right mindset.
In the lead up to Multicultural Week at Fed Square, Sarah Ghassali interviews Ifrin, the head of social enterprise at SisterWorks, a Non-For-Profit organisation that supports migrant, refugee and asylum seeker women in Melbourne. Ifrin discusses the range of opportunities provided to the women, the sustainable ethics of their products, as well as how listeners can support the organisation to continue its mission. https://www.instagram.com/sisterworks_inc/
If there was one thing you think society should talk more about, what would it be? “There is no reason for FGM other than patriarchal power” ______ Khadija Gbla is a high profile, passionate and inspiring African Australian woman. She is an award-winning human rights activist, inspirational speaker, facilitator and philanthropist. She has displayed great courage and determination in achieving her aspirations of giving women, youth and minority groups a voice at a local, state and international level. Khadija utilises her powerful and inspired voice to advocate equality and inclusion. Khadija was born in Sierra Leone, and was just 3-years-old when war broke out in her country. Ten years later she attained refugee status and resettled in Adelaide. Khadija is the lead voice and campaigner on Female Genital Mutilation in Australia and her TED Talk "My mother's strange definition of empowerment" has reached nearly 3 Million views. Khadija runs a not for profit organisation Ending Female Genital Mutilation Australia which works to protect Australian girls from FGM and also to support survivors of FGM. Khadija provides training for professionals, advocacy and community education for practising communities in Australia. She is an Ambassador for Our Watch, an organisation established to change attitudes of violence towards women and their children, and member of Harmony Alliance -Migrant and Refugee Women for Change aims to provide a national inclusive and informed voice on the multiplicity of issues impacting the experiences and outcomes of migrant and refugee women in Australia Khadija provides advocacy, training, speaking on domestic and family violence, sexual health, racism, human rights, mental health, migrants and refugees and cultural diversity through her cultural consultancy, khadija Gbla Cultural Consultancy. Ambassador for SisterWorks, a non for profit social enterprise which supports refugee and migrant women to become economically empowered through the model of learning by doing. The list of what Khadija has achieved in her young life of advocacy is no short of astounding. She's been recognized through numerous awards including 2019 Instyle Magazine, The Advocate for Acceptance Human Rights Award; 2017 cosmopolitan magazine women of the year finalist; 2016 Women's Weekly and Qantas Women of the Future finalist; 2016 AusMumpreneur Rising Star and Making a difference –non-profit Award & 2014 The Advertiser South Australia's 50 most Influential Women… to name a few. I recently had the privilege of seeing Kadija speak on stage where there was not a dry eye in the audience & she was honoured with a standing ovation. Her story is moving. She is so generous in sharing the path she's taken to get here and it's one that many would have not been able to endure. I urge you to watch her TEDTalk to understand what she's been through and how, at 13, this beautiful soul decided ‘enough is enough'! This topic is not for the feint hearted...but it's so important that we understand that FGM is happening here in Australia TODAY! And as a Child Abuse issue, it's something that is all our business, not just those from certain cultures or backgrounds. This is a pretty confronting conversation and there are things we talk about that will make many feel really uncomfortable. It's such an important conversation and I feel honoured to sit with an outstanding human that is so crystal clear around her purpose in life...and it making a true dent in the world. I hope you enjoy this conversation with the glorious Kadija Gbla. Connect and find out more about Kadija here;- Website:Khadijagbla.com.au Instagram: @_khadija_gbla Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khadija-gbla-she-her-a8a73416?originalSubdomain=au Khadija's incredible TedTalk called “My mothers strange definition of empowerment” And for more information about the Wabi Sabi Series, please find us here:- https://wabisabiseries.com/ Connect with us on Instagram here:- @thewabisabiseries Connect with us on Facebook here - @thewabisabiseries If you have a burning topic you'd love society to talk more about, or know someone who'd be great to come on our podcast, drop us a line at hello@wabisabiseries.com
In this episode we are talking about masks, refugees and permaculture…. How are those things related? Well, in several ways it turns out. We have three guests: Ginny Thomas has been working with refugee and immigrant women through an organisation called Sisterworks and they have been making washable, re-usable, cloth masks. Virginia Solomon has also been making masks, but this time as a fundraiser for Permaculture Australia, she talks to us about masks, waste and permaculture. Then finally Ian Lillington has been a leader in and educator of permaculture here in Central Victoria for over a decade and he talks to us about how the permaculture movement has had an impact in our region and also finds ways that masks and mask wearing in times of pandemic are related to the principles of permaculture. Saltgrass is produced in Castlemaine, on Jaara country, home of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. We pay respects to elders past, present and emerging. Resources and Links: Masks as pollution: More masks than Jellyfish? PPE pollution in the UK Some notes on masks and coronavirus: Some videos about mask wearing from the World Health Organisation "A dual-layered cloth mask is sufficient to protect people in public settings. It’s unlikely you’ll be infected in public by airborne viral particles. The real threat is touching an infected surface and then putting your hand to your face: Frequent hand-washing is a sure way to avoid COVID-19." Source Research into the best fabrics to make masks out of The three C’s Ian spoke of in terms of situations that put you most at risk. The Department of Health and Human Services’s (DHHS) advice on wearing masks The DHHS’s mask design From Ginny's interview: Sisterworks Two refugee assistance orgs Ginny volunteered with before working at Sisterworks: https://www.asrc.org.au/ https://lcms.org.au/ From Virginia's interview: Permaculture Australia Permaculture's Guiding Principles Virginia’s website with masks for sale
Luz studied Medicine in her native Colombia, graduating as a GP and later working in Casualty. Finding that she enjoyed hospital administration more, Luz moved into an administrative role gaining Graduate Diplomas in Business Administration and Marketing, and an MA in Communication. Before leaving Colombia she had established her own communications company and was a university lecturer in Marketing.In 2010, Luz arrived in Australia as a political refugee. her life was in tatters and she spoke no English. She felt like a nobody: frightened, isolated and disempowered. She soon discovered that she wasn’t alone and In 2011, along with a group of 25 other women experiencing similar challenges, she began to make and sell crafts around Melbourne.In May 2013, SisterWorks was born and over the last five years 451 Sisters from 56 different countries have been part of the Sisterworks Family. Luz provides inspirational leadership, marketing and network skills and a vision of women from many cultures supporting each other through working together.
Angela Perry is Partnership Committee Member at Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership, works with Scale and is director of Sisterworks, just to name a few of Angela's roles.In this episode of Success Stories, Angela talks with Catherine Robson about her English roots and how she landed in Australia. They discuss her start as an angel investor, how she stays motivated and chose her her career path.
Dan W. Osborne from Celebrate Moral Exemplars interviews Luz Restrepo founder of Sisterworks in Melbourne, Australia. Sisterworks is a social enterprise that exists to help women migrants, asylum seekers and refugees become financially independent and happily settled in Australia. Learn more about sisterworks at https://sisterworks.org.au